


their narrow road

by swagoru



Category: Fullmetal Alchemist - All Media Types, Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood & Manga
Genre: Alternate Universe, Angst, Blind Character, Coping, F/M, Forgiveness, Gen, Healing, Introspection, Royai - Freeform, blinded character, if that's not human enough for you i can throw in some despair and a little hope, subliminal romance i guess
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-05-24
Updated: 2018-05-24
Packaged: 2019-05-13 09:01:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,128
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14745848
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/swagoru/pseuds/swagoru
Summary: The city ends up with a fate its people have built. Its walls shatter and crumble into dust, surrendering to the punishment hailed upon by virtue and nature. Individuals do not always live under the same premise. They are held exempt from the rule and thus give birth to hope.Roy and Riza go on a journey for forgiveness.





	their narrow road

It is dark when they go home.

 

The silence hangs heavy in the air only to be further dampened by footsteps along the cobblestone path. All around it, the atmosphere drowns out even the crunching of leaves and the rustling of clothes. The smallest of noises only make the silence more apparent as two adults walk along the deserted path.

 

In the current absence of light, Roy Mustang basks in the comfort of his partner. Constantly at his left, he allows her to guide him along their way home, fingers intertwined. By habit he is able to tell that it is her hand holding his. Riza Hawkeye’s fingertips are marred with calluses and scabs trace her palm – she has told him where they are from and he has seen a few mark her on occasion. Her scars make her hands different from all the others.

 

They pass under several street lamps that allow them illumination, but Roy can no longer tell between light and dark. He can no longer count how long it has been since he has seen her, or how long it has been since he had wished to gain his sight back just so. Both of them recall the mockery that came from blinding a man with something as brittle and fragile as glass. The world gives him this punishment for the lives he had taken away.

 

He is not the only one who has lost. As Roy slowly became accustomed to living in the dark, he began to perceive. At home, when they first moved in together, he had heard sobs coming from the bathroom – faint, silent, but present. Before the two of them succumbed to sleep, Riza’s voice would sometimes quiver as she talked to him. She rarely talks about herself.

 

She has lost more than she likes to admit. If Roy were to leave his thoughts idle, the feeling that he had taken her freedom would grow. He knows he had taken her time, her space, as well as everything else she owned and suddenly there is a lump in his throat and he is small and weak towards the entire world. He used to be prominent on the battlefield. Out of commission and rehabilitating under the suffocating atmosphere of comfort, he is fading, and he could sense she was, as well.

 

As they take their last walk in the city, he tells her. “I feel that you’re tired of having to see my face as you’re looking after me all the time.” Roy is giving her the choice to live in freedom – he always has. His left hand weakens. Riza’s presence is not just a comfort, it is something he needed to keep him calm, to keep him sane, to keep him alive. However, if there was someone who deserved it the least, he felt it had to be him.

 

“I’m not. Protecting you is not always an order. It has never been one in the first place.” She still chooses to stay with him. Among all the voices he has heard, hers has never told a lie. He thanks all the heavens in the world that he has her honesty and trust to rely on, but blind as he is, he can see the many ways things could have played out between the two of them.

 

“Look at us, we could have been living different lives if it – ” he inhales, “If it weren’t for this. You don’t deserve this. I don’t deserve you.” He squeezes his eyes shut as his free hand grips the cloth she had carefully wrapped around his eyes to protect them. A small burn spreads across his eyes. They are threatening to be scratched out and his fingernails catch the edge of the cloth and –

 

Roy hears Riza step in front of him, never letting go of the hand she had been holding. His right wrist is swiftly – but not forcefully – taken away from the bandage. Were he able to see, he would have seen her shake her head. “No, I have been with you by choice,” she lowers his hand to his side, but does not let go, “No matter how much you think you deserve it the least, you need it the most. I will never allow you to suffer alone.”

 

She does not owe him anything, he thinks. Inside, however, he knows that they have been there for each other when they had nothing else and no one else left. He has not thought much of what he has given her, but it was everything to her back then. If she gave her loyalty to him in return, she had already done more than enough. The innocence in her voice and her words kindle a light he can feel inside of him. There is so much he has yet to show her – she has lost so many parts of herself.

 

His right hand ghosts her face and traces her cheek, picturing in his head what she looks like at the moment. He finds a stray lock of hair and brushes it behind her ear. There are many things he wanted to say, but as his voice trembles, there was only one thing he could tell her: “I hope I can see your face again soon.”

 

Her voice lacks its sharp tone when she answers, “Don’t worry, you will.” She grips the hand she guides – it had loosened its hold – and brushes her thumb along each of his fingers, gently pinching the tips that had stiffened. “Have faith, Roy. It’s slow, but you are healing. One day you will be able to see clearly.” Once more their fingers tangle and she tugs him a little. They move forward, side by side.

 

He patiently waits for the day he will be able to see her smile again. The sting from the operation moistens his eyes and he stiffens at the urge to scratch the sore, tingling wound. The night – or so he thinks it is – is still young, and there are still many things they have to do. They will take what they need and bid their farewells to the city. By dawn they will depart to return what they have taken.

 

The air is damp and heavy on their last trip home. So much has been taken and much more has been lost. The city slowly begins to crumble. They deserved death, perhaps worse. The downfall of the nation brings them to the realization that they are not heroes – they have been ignoring the weight of their mistakes until they have slowly been weakened and bruised from carrying them.

 

The two of them walk along the dark, narrow road. The burdens on their backs are heavy, and it is time to send them home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hello everyone. propermaniac here. if you know me from tumblr i posted a really ugly drawing of the conversation they had (it was shorter in the drawing). it was actually sort of a preview of this (i hadn't planned it out when i drew it).
> 
> this is my very first multi-chapter work. royai is a very dynamic pairing and i have not died more than twice over any other ship except for this one and valenfield (i see parallels in them).
> 
> the theme i chose for this work is forgiveness. it's something we are taught at an early age yet struggle with as we live on. as for the au, i had a lot of details regarding their circumstances, and maybe i will add some details in the next chapters. i just don't want to lose focus on the main goal. haha.
> 
> your support is always appreciated. please bear with my raw writing. i haven't written in a while. thank you <3


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